Sword Art Online: Sealed Sentiment
I don't own Sword Art Online or any of its characters. The series is solely the property of Reki Kawahara and his publishers.
Author's Note
Hello again, I am pleased to release the second chapter of my story with much, much more being planned. Seeing as this is my first fanfiction, I could not be more honored by everyone who has followed and favorited this work so far. Knowing that at least one person is willing to read more of my content is truly a blessing.
I'd like to thank Insert Your Name Here, for reviewing and offering to look over my work for grammar mistakes and for his overall input on the flow of the story itself. Having an additional person giving me feedback before a chapter is published means that you, the readers, will have a better reading experience.
As you start to read through this chapter, you'll notice that instead of Kirito narrating the story in first-person, the chapter is being told in third-person. I'm using third-person for this chapter as a way to look into the thoughts and feelings of other characters. From here on out, there will chapters both in Kirito's perspective and the third-person. How often I use either style will be based on how I feel the content of a chapter could be best told.
April 11, 2026
Lisbeth's Arms Shop
Chapter 2
"You guys got a hold of Oricalcum?!" Lisbeth the Leprechaun blacksmith exclaimed in astonishment as Sinon presented her with the high grade material while placing it atop the polished wood grain shop counter.
The interior of the store was well-lit by a combination of lighting crystals and various beams of sunlight peeking through the windows. The light brought out the gleam in the metals of the various weapons that were displayed upon the racks and walls of the shop. Different shields types which ranged from heavy square shields to thin magic resistant bucklers covered the wall behind Lisbeth. However, the shimmering pale green Oricalcum ore was the most glaring item in the store.
"We happened to encounter a rare spawn after we were done gathering the Adamantite you needed," Kirito started to explain. "By an odd turn of events, Asuna and I were constrained by a spell, leaving the monster to Sinon, who managed to kill the rare spawn using a Sword Skill."
"A Sword Skill?" Lisbeth remarked, her eyebrows rising in amazement. "Sinon, does that mean you used a sword—"
"Liz, we'll tell you everything that happened when we meet everyone back at the Log House, but yes, Sinonon did use a sword." Asuna suggested, cutting Lisbeth off.
Asuna wanted to tell Liz the amazing story of how Sinon used the Sword Skills she was hiding to defeat the rare spawn, but she held herself back understanding that it would be more efficient to tell everyone when they were all gathered at the cabin.
"Uun," Sinon nodded in agreement. "It will be easier to report what happened during our farming at the cabin rather than having you hear the same story twice."
Lisbeth shot out a slightly disappointed look and bit the bottom part of her lip.
"Well, I'm assuming you guys aren't just gifting this Oricalcum in addition to the Adamantite you were gathering for me," Lisbeth predicted, opening her right hand in a gesture, slightly disappointed that she won't be able to use the rare metal for her own purposes.
"Yeah, we were hoping that you could use that ore to create a new sword for Sinon," Kirito explained.
"A crafted sword would be more suitable than the NPC shop and quest reward swords I've been using while I was keeping my Sword Skills a secret," said Sinon.
She was never satisfied with the previous swords she used. The generic quest reward and item shop swords never felt just right to her. She adjusted to style of using swords over time, but she never felt she had a sword to call her own.
"Honestly, both you and Kirito are ridiculously similar," said Lisbeth, recounting Kirito's tendencies to hide his skills in SAO.
"First, he hides his «Dual Blades» and now you with your one-handed Sword Skills. Well, at least both of you came to me to craft your swords," she remarked, patting her forehead with her right hand, brushing aside some of her pink hair in the process.
"Kirito hid his skills as well?" Sinon questioned with a raised eye as she looked at Kirito to her right. The black-coated avatar still had many more secrets unknown to her.
"It's not really that I hid them, but rather didn't want to be bothered into explaining why I had one of the ten «Unique Skills» in SAO. I was already considered a 'Beater,'" explained Kirito. Many players in SAO had a distrust in Kirito who managed to be the top-level swordsman while playing mostly solo.
"Uoh, so does that mean I was bother, considering that I was the first person to find out about your «Dual Blades»?" joked Lisbeth, recalling how reluctant Kirito acted when Lisbeth asked why he insisted on getting both of his swords at an equal strength in SAO.
The pink haired blacksmith was actually very grateful to Kirito for revealing his «Dual Blades» to her first. His Unique Skill was a secret that was hers alone until he was forced to use the skill during his battle against «The Gleam Eyes». She always treasured the times that he would come to her shop in SAO to perform maintenance on both his swords, one of them being her creation, «Dark Repulser».
"No, of course not!" Kirito nervously let out, shaking his hands outward, "You weren't a bother at all. I'm very glad that you were the person that was the first to know. Without you making «Dark Repulser» for me, there would have been no way that I would be able to make it Floor 75 and defeat Heathcliff. I wouldn't want anyone else to have been my first." Kirito finished his sentence, a single strand of sweat rolling down the side of his face.
Lisbeth blushed at Kirito's awkwardly worded sentence and Asuna moved over to pinch Kirito's right ear.
"Kirito-kun," Asuna started to say, annoyed at Kirito's blunder, "don't you think you should word your sentences more properly? Someone might misunderstand."
Asuna would have no mercy on her boyfriend who unknowingly gets himself into similar situations when interacting with the other girls in the group. Kirito, not a master of reading into everyone's feelings, always had a rough time while dealing with the girls. He tries to keep everyone happy, but sometimes comes off as being too caring, sparking jealousy in Asuna.
"Uwah! Asuna, stop! That hurts!" yelled Kirito.
Sinon and Lisbeth both glanced at each other and smiled, laughing as Asuna reprimanded Kirito.
"So, Liz, I would be grateful if you crafted a sword out of the Oricalcum for me," Sinon pleaded as she bowed at Lisbeth.
"There's no need to be so formal, we're friends aren't we?" Lisbeth replied. Sinon held Lisbeth in high regard because she never had a friend that would always keep her weapons in prime condition. GGO mainly focused on a shop system for weapon modifications so the idea of a smith was still new to her.
"I'd be more than welcomed to make the sword for you since you guys went to all the trouble of gathering Adamantite for me. Besides, it's not everyday that I get to make something out of high grade material like Oricalcum." Lisbeth was truly excited to craft a weapon out of the rare ore, her eyes sparkling in spirit.
"Thanks a lot, Liz," Sinon said with gratitude.
"Yeah, thanks a bunch, Liz. You're always making upgrading and maintaining our weapons too," said Asuna who was always thankful for all times Lisbeth would work on her weapons in SAO as well as in ALO.
"It's no problem. Let's go to the back room so I can make this sword," Lisbeth said, motioning for the group to follow her to the room with her forge.
Lisbeth stood at the anvil with her hammer raised above her left hand which rested on the newly smelted Oricalcum bar.
"Now, Sinon, what kind of one-handed sword do you want? Kirito uses a heavy one-handed sword based on Strength. Alternatively, you could have a stat focus on Critical Rating and Agility like Asuna's rapier," Lisbeth explained.
A weapon in ALO has base stats such as Dexterity or Strength. Depending on the stats that a player chooses to focus on in their main equipment and character build, it would be more advantageous to equip items which all support a particular stat. A weapon's damage was based on its main stat, therefore, a character that used Dexterity equipment would benefit from a Dexterity weapon.
"If it's Sinon, she should probably focus on a sword that uses Dexterity and Agility because that would complement the stats she has as an archer," Kirito thought out loud while crossing his arms.
"Yes, with my lower Strength stat I'm better off using my Dexterity and Agility stats to boost my sword's damage. If I'm going to enter the next dueling tournament, I'll need to beat my opponents with my speed and technique. I'd rather not use reckless brute force like someone else I know," Sinon directed at Kirito coolly.
"Surely, you're not talking about me!? That's just my style of fighting!" replied the Spriggan in shock.
Kirito had the habit of seeming as though he was possessed during his sword fights, often shouting and yelling while using reckless and strong movements that catch his opponent's off guard.
"Raging berserker style," Lisbeth nodded in agreement.
"That's certainly what Kirito-kun seems like when he fights," Asuna mentioned as she and Lisbeth started laughing while Kirito lowered his head in distress.
"All right, so that's a one-handed sword with a focus on Dexterity and Agility." Lisbeth declared energetically as she navigated through her crafting interface with her left hand.
"Oh, don't worry about the materials that I'll be using for the stat type. They're cheap and easy to get. Now then, let's get to crafting this!" Lisbeth exclaimed, beaming a smile as she began to work the metal on the anvil.
Asuna, Kirito, and Sinon watched as Lisbeth worked away her hammer on the bar of Oricalcum. After selecting the appropriate categories of weapon and stat types, all she needed to do was strike the metal with her hammer a number of times based on the quality of material.
Each time the hammer collided with the bar, sparks flew out from the point of impact and the bar glowed brighter and brighter. This process continued for about two full minutes. Sweat could be seen rolling down Lisbeth's forehead onto her cheeks. The by-products of her artificial perspiration reflected the glowing ore, making it seem as though her face was adorned with shining light green gemstones.
"Ah," Lisbeth quietly let out as the glowing bar's light intensified to a blinding point and started to change shape. The gleaming mass thinned and extended its shape into a long and slender one-handed sword. The illumination finally dissipated revealing a beautiful and elegant weapon.
The inner blade shone in a pale blue similar to the color of Sinon's hair. A translucent green glistened on edges of the sword which contrasted its dark green handle that was covered with a black wrapping grip which was decorated with gold accents.
"It's beautiful," Sinon expressed, captivated by the sight of the sword, its features mirroring in her sparkling blue eyes.
"This might be some of your best work Liz," Asuna noted, admiring Lisbeth's work.
Kirito's eyes flew between Sinon and the sword as he voiced out a comparison.
"The sword matches Sinon's appearance perfectly. It's almost as if the blade was made to complement her avatar."
The sword did indeed match Sinon who wore a green and gold outfit. Along with her pale blue hair, the weapon and avatar were harmonized in colors.
"The sword was always going to be pale blue because of the stat focuses, but the rest of the appearance was random. I'm proud to say this turned out to be some of my finest craftsmanship yet!" Lisbeth proclaimed. She believed she hadn't made such a beautiful weapon sense she crafted «Dark Repulser».
"What's its name?" Sinon asked still marveled by the dazzling sword that laid upon the anvil. Similar to Sword Art Online, the names of crafted weapons were randomly generated, but the more powerful weapons would always have a unique name that could not be copied.
"Let's see," Lisbeth started as she poked the sword's handle with her left index finger.
A window popped up displaying the weapon's stats and the name of blacksmith who crafted it. The bold text at the top contained the name.
"I believe it's read as «Soul's Embrace»."
"«Soul's Embrace». . ." repeated Sinon, still in awe.
Lisbeth smiled and said, "Well, you can keep admiring my craftsmanship, but I really think you should pick it up now, Sinon."
She was delighted at the fact that Sinon appreciated her handiwork, but Lisbeth really wanted to see how the weapon would look wielded by its intended user.
"O-Of course!" spurted Sinon who was rarely flustered. She walked to the anvil and picked up the sword with caution using her right hand. As she held the sword, it seemed to melt into her palm as if the weapon's grip was made for her alone. She found the weight to be lighter than the generic quest sword she was using previously, but the weapon felt strong and alive. It was well-noted in books and movies that a sword should feel like an extension of one's arm, but to Sinon, this sword was an extension of her very being. It was if part of her soul was embraced by the weapon.
"The power of that sword is comparable to Kirito's black one. You should be able to kill any minor mob in Jötunheimr with a Sword Skill of your choice. Speaking of which, you should try using one," suggested Lisbeth as she put away her hammer and shut down her forge, not wanting to waste the materials to keep it burning.
"Good idea. Sinonon, let's move back into the first room where there's more open space," Asuna directed, eager to see how her fellow female swordsman could use her new weapon.
"Right." Sinon acknowledged as she sheathed her new sword onto her hip where her previous sword once rested.
The group of four relocated back into the open salesroom to watch Sinon. Asuna, Lisbeth, and Kirito leaned against a wall while Sinon stood in the middle of the room with her blade in hand.
"All right," Sinon said softly as she raised her right foot and lowered it back down to activate the «Vertical Square» Sword Skill. Just like her encounter against the rare orc spawn, the skill caused the sword to glow blue, only this time the glow was brighter and more vivid. The skill system was designed to guide a player's movement, but rather than the sword guiding her actions, Sinon felt her whole body become empowered by the sword and moved with her blade as one whole being. Sinon danced with her sword leaving behind a vibrant blue afterimage of a square that her four slashes created in the air. With the skill completed, Sinon sheathed her sword.
"Amazing! That was beautiful Sinonon!" said Asuna, impressed at Sinon's versatility after switching weapons.
"«Vertical Square» huh. I'm surprised you can use such a high level one-handed Sword Skill. You must have trained in secret a lot," noted Lisbeth, impressed by Sinon's skill. She was again reminded of Kirito who raised his «Dual Blades» in secret.
Kirito felt a sense of déjà vu and realized why the scene before him felt so nostalgic.
"Come to think of it Sinon, wasn't «Vertical Square» the skill I replicated when I first used the Photon Sword in GGO?"
Sinon, who purposefully used «Vertical Square» as her move of choice for that very reason, slightly blushed, a tint of red being expressed in her cheeks.
"That was the first Sword Skill that I saw, so naturally I wanted to learn it when I had chance," Sinon revealed, hiding the fact she wanted to emulate the move that her rival, Kirito used.
"Well, the skill and sword certainly fit you very well, Sinon," Kirito complimented, grinning. The Spriggan was truly entranced when he watched the Cait Sith dance with her new weapon.
"Thanks," Sinon said warmly as Asuna and Lisbeth looked at each other, then pouted coldly at Kirito.
"What?" Kirito questioned unaware of the jealousy that was surfacing amongst the girls.
"Oh, nothing." Asuna and Lisbeth responded together, irked by Kirito's denseness.
The two girls knew that Kirito didn't mean to openly flirt with Sinon, but were nonetheless annoyed, especially Asuna.
"Anyway, we should get back to the Log House, everyone is probably waiting for us to come back," Kirito suggested, aware of the time and doing his best to avoid the tense situation with Asuna and Lisbeth.
"And you'll be able to tell us the whole story on how you guys got your hands on the Oricalcum. I'm looking forward to it, Kirito and Sinon," Lisbeth teased as she put herself between the two and rested her arms on their shoulders.
"R-Right," Kirito and Sinon hesitantly replied in unison.
Kirito, Asuna, Sinon and Lisbeth arrived at the Log House, Kirito and Asuna's player-home on Floor 22 of New Aincrad. Leafa and Silica were finishing their homework at the dining table while Yui and Pina slept together on Kirito's rocking chair. Klein, the Salamander katana-user, arrived minutes before Kirito's group. Agil was not in-game because he was working at his cafe.
Kirito and Sinon recounted the story of their ventures in the mining cave while the creation of Sinon's sword was told by Lisbeth who expressed great pride in her latest work.
"Geez," pouted Yui, the AI which was currently a navigation pixie and the adopted daughter of Kirito and Asuna.
"Papa is always getting into trouble. You should have taken me with you and Mama. I would have been able to warn you about the monster's crowd control ability," complained the pixie, obviously wanting to spend more time with her adoptive parents.
"I appreciate the thought, Yui, but I feel as though having you tell us everything about our opponents is an unfair advantage. Besides, we made it out okay because of Sinon," Kirito replied patting the pixie's head.
Kirito recounted a time when they faced a new boss in an ALfheim dungeon. Usually a dungeon group encountering a boss for the first time would be wiped out time after time as the players got used to the fight mechanics. However, Yui is able to look into the Cardinal System and analyze the workings of the encounter. The group easily took down the boss with the aid of Yui's instructions, but Kirito felt as though the authenticity of a boss fight was ruined as a result.
"We'll take you with us next time, Yui-chan," comforted Asuna who smiled lovingly at her adopted daughter.
"That's a promise!" exclaimed Yui who hopped onto Asuna's shoulder and sat down.
"It's a little frustrating that Sinon-san is growing strong enough to use a sword proficiently too. I thought that I would be able to at least best her at melee combat. It feels as though I'm becoming the weakest out of all of us," Silica frowned, her cat-like ears lowering in disappointment. She began to see her role in the group diminishing with another player who was adept at melee combat.
"Don't worry Silica-chan!" cheered Leafa, resting her hand on the Cait Sith's shoulder.
"You're still the strongest Beast Tamer around. Believing that you're weak would be an insult to Pina as well." The blue pet dragon flew onto the table where Leafa and Silica sat and rubbed its face against Silica's cheek. The twin-tailed girl started to smile and laugh.
"Besides!" announced Klein, who stood up from his chair and beat his chest, "If anything were to happen, I'd protect you Silica-chan!" The Salamander proudly smiled in self-satisfaction.
"And don't forget, you're definitely stronger than this guy, Silica," teased Lisbeth, chopping the top of Klein's head with her hand, sending the whole cabin into a fit of laughter.
"Oh," Leafa started to say, "Sinon-san, could you show us your sword?"
Sinon was leaning her back against the wall near the dining table where everyone was congregated.
"Of course," said Sinon who got up and unsheathed her weapon, holding it vertically and displaying its shining pale blue and green image. She gently smiled, happy to have an excuse to behold the sight of her beloved new weapon once more.
Those who had not yet seen the sword were entranced by its brilliance.
"How is it? My crowning achievement as a blacksmith?!" bragged Lisbeth.
"It's beautiful!" answered Silica. "Liz, how come you can't make a weapon as pretty as that for me?" The dagger user's eyes were filled with envy.
"Well if you can get your hands on some Oricalcum, I'd be happy to make a similar dagger for you," Lisbeth admitted, wanting to craft more high level weapons.
"There's no way I have enough money to buy that! And I'm not strong enough to kill any monsters that could drop it." Silica frowned in displeasure, knowing that a higher quality dagger was out of her reach.
"Don't worry Silica, if we happen to get our hands on any more Oricalcum we'll make sure you know," assured Kirito wanting to comfort the youngest the girls.
"Well, okay. Thanks, Kirito," Silica recovered, her mind set at ease.
Sinon put away her sword with care after everyone was finished admiring the beauty of her blade.
"You look like you're already used to your new weapon, Sinon-chan," Klein observed seeing Sinon's attachment to her new weapon.
"Yes, this sword feels as though it has become a part of me like Hecate is to me in GGO." Sinon didn't mean to say that she didn't appreciated her finely crafted bow, but she could identify herself with the sword more, despite preferring a ranged style of combat.
"Is that so? I wonder how good you are with that sword after accomplishing what you did with a generic one in that cave," noted Klein who by his own right was a fairly experienced swordsman from his days of using a katana in SAO. He was the most respected out of all katana-users having mastery of the skill and being the leader of the «Fuurinzakan» guild.
"That gives me an idea!" Asuna exclaimed, standing up.
"Sinonon, would you please spar with me? We could show everyone how good you really are with a sword. It would also be a good way to get used to your new weapon."
Sinon, who always felt grateful to Asuna for accepting who she was and becoming her friend could not easily turn the offer down. She also wanted to gauge the strength level of the opponents she would face in the upcoming dueling tournament.
"All right. Let's do it," Sinon replied.
Everyone started to become excited to see the upcoming spar and got up from their seats.
"Then let's head out to the lakeside view outside the cabin for the duel," directed Kirito, curious to see the outcome of the match.
The party gathered around a flat open area of grass by the lake which was adjacent to the Log House. They made a semi-circle around Asuna and Sinon to watch the sparring.
"The rules are as follows. Whoever lands the first clean hit will win the match. Is that acceptable with the two of you?" questioned Kirito who oversaw the match.
"Yes." the two blue haired avatars replied together. Asuna brought up the duel request window and set the rules, while Sinon followed by accepting the terms on her navigation menu.
The number "3" floated above the heads of Asuna and Sinon who both had their weapons drawn and stood four meters apart. Tension started to rise between the two duelists. Asuna was in her rapier stance, standing straight with her left hand on her hip and her weapon extended outwards which was gripped in her right. Sinon stood with bent knees and her left arm held out while leaning the right side of her body forward with her sword in her right hand.
"Ready, Sinonon?" asked Asuna.
"Of course," the pale blue haired girl confirmed.
Sinon and Asuna gave each other hard gazes, confirming that they would both fight with their full strength.
"Onii-chan, aren't they a little too tense for a friendly match?" questioned Leafa who noted the two's focused stares.
"It's fine. If you were in their position, wouldn't you also want to fight your friend with all of your might? Personally, I would be offended if my opponent felt the need to hold back."
The number "2" appeared as the countdown lowered.
"I guess that's true. You never want me to hold back during our kendo matches, but you always get your butt kicked," Leafa added in, laughing.
"T-There's no need to mention that," Kirito replied, embarrassed.
Kirito struggled to wield kendo blade properly after being accustomed to his own style of fighting after his time in SAO. When he fought against Leafa he would hold his kendo blade in a similar vein, but his body was incapable of recreating his fast and strong movements that he could accomplish in VR, leading to many embarrassing losses due to reckless moves.
"1"
"Pay attention, Papa! Mama is going to be battling!" exclaimed Yui who sat on top of Kirito's head, eyes widened in eagerness to see her mother in action.
"Duel Start!"
Sinon kept a defensive stance as Asuna leapt forward and activated «Linear», her rapier glowing blue from the effect and lunging towards the lower-left part of Sinon's breastplate. Despite the inhuman speed that the Sword Skill gave Asuna, Sinon was able to sidestep to her right and avoid the attack. The downtime from a single strike Sword Skill would be short, but Sinon used this opportunity to swing her sword diagonally from the upper right at Asuna's unprotected left.
Asuna managed to pull her rapier back in time to parry the blow, her weapon meeting Sinon's sword inches away from her neck. Sinon pulled her blade downward causing Asuna's weapon to veer to the Cait Sith's right. She then moved her blade upwards towards Asuna's right. The rapier wielder jumped backward avoiding the strike.
"Nice one, Sinonon, you almost got—"
Asuna was cut off when she saw that Sinon activated the «Sonic Leap» skill, causing the cat-eared swordswoman to jump toward her at a blinding speed. Sinon's blade glowed white with wind energy, ready to strike downward from her right shoulder. Asuna was astonished at her opponent's fierce ferocity.
At such a thunderous speed, Asuna would not be able to block the blow with a standard swing of the sword. She activated «Neutron», a five-hit combo skill filled with the power of holy light. Her rapier glowed bright gold and the first strike was thrusted towards Sinon's incoming blow, brushing «Soul's Embrace» to Asuna's side as the attack failed to connect, canceling the Skill.
Asuna had four strikes left to her Sword Skill which would be a series of flashing thrusts. The first, headed straight for Sinon's right abdomen, but between Sinon's high Agility stat and keen eyesight, a trait from being a Cait Sith, she was able to parry the blinding blow with her sword in time. Her continuous training against monsters' Sword Skills was also no joke. The remainder of Asuna's three thrusts went towards the middle of Sinon's chest, the left side of her stomach and her left shoulder. Sinon parried the three strikes in a similar manner. The Sword Skill traced a golden "w" across the space in front of Sinon's body illuminating her breastplate.
"Wow, that was an amazing block!" commented Silica off to the side.
"Hee hee. I guess I don't need to sell her a shield," joked Lisbeth.
Due to the mental concentration required to accomplish such a feat, Sinon lowered her sword in weariness while Asuna was in the state of delay. The Undine fencer was far more formidable than any enemy monster's AI. Nevertheless, Sinon activated the «Vertical Square» Sword Skill and her blade of glowing ice slashed four times toward Asuna who managed to parry each blow despite the speed and intensity of the new sword and its wielder, a result of seeing the skill countless times in Sword Art Online.
"As expected of the sub-leader of the «Knights of the Blood»," mentioned Klein, scared of Asuna's terrifying skill in the rapier.
The last of Sinon's skill ended, leaving a square outline of crushed ice on the ground. Being careful not to set foot on the ice, Asuna declared that her next move would end the match.
"This is the final attack, Sinonon!"
Asuna wasn't losing composure, but was surprised by Sinon's current strength. She felt that she should answer Sinon's resolve with her strongest skill.
Instead of the usual rapier stance, Asuna held her weapon like a one-handed sword as a violet light emanated from her blade.
Yuuki, let's introduce another friend to the world of swords. She was going to activate the eleven-hit combo Original Sword Skill, «Mother's Rosario».
"That's—" Kirito spurted out in surprise, closely watching the match.
Sinon fixated her eyes on the gleaming sword alone, knowing that she needed to focus her entire being into avoiding a clean hit. The first five strikes of the skill came at Sinon in the shape of a star. She managed to parry three of the hits and dodge the other two between her blocks. The second set of the star shaped blows were not as forgiving.
Sinon was able to completely parry the first two blows and avoid the third by leaning to the right, but the fourth and fifth hits scraped her breastplate as she only could redirect the strikes elsewhere due to her fatigue. However, she believed could still win the duel. Asuna had yet to land a clean hit.
Sinon became comfortable, thinking that she would definitely be able to land a blow because of the long delay Asuna would suffer from using such a high combo skill. She did not know that the Sword Skill would have a final eleventh hit.
"It's not over yet, Sinonon!" Asuna yelled out.
It came as a shock to Sinon. The glow of Asuna's weapon shined more intensely, and traveled straight into the chest of an exhausted Sinon. The Cait Sith was not able to move out of the way or parry with her sword in time. Asuna's blade stuck into the right side of Sinon's breastplate, a deep holographic red gash appearing as a wound. Sinon witnessed the strength of one of ALO's strongest duelists firsthand.
The message "Winner, Asuna!" was displayed above the heads of the two duelists.
"Wow! That was amazing you two!" shouted Leafa who walked over with the rest of the group towards Asuna and Sinon.
"Yeah, but I lost," sulked Sinon who blamed herself for not expecting a final eleventh blow. She failed to anticipate her opponent's movements, a skill associated with a sniper like herself.
"You lasted a lot longer than I thought you would. Asuna was the top rapier-user in SAO for two years," admitted Klein who was genuinely surprised that Sinon was able make Asuna falter in the duel.
"It's all right, Sinonon," started Asuna who reached out her hand to Sinon.
"You had me on the ropes there. I had to resort to my best move to defeat you." Asuna told the truth as she wondered how powerful Sinon could become if she was already this formidable with a sword. She would more than likely be ALO's most complete player, excelling in both long ranged and close combat fights.
"Don't you think using Yuuki's ultimate skill is a bit too much for Sinon's first duel?" questioned Kirito despite telling Leafa that Sinon and Asuna need to fight each other at full strength. He thought that using a skill that defeated even him was far too much for a first match.
Sinon remembered the name Yuuki. That was the name of the girl that Asuna befriended over the spring. Asuna and Yuuki met when rumors of a player called «Absolute Sword» went around ALO. She was a player who was strong enough to best the likes of Kirito. Sinon knew that Yuuki died of a terminal case of AIDS, which left a lasting impact on Asuna who became very close to her. The fact that Asuna was willing to use Yuuki's ultimate skill on Sinon in her first duel honored her.
"No, I'm glad that she fought me with her full strength," Sinon replied as she shook Asuna's hand.
"I'll have to face similar Sword Skills if I plan on entering the dueling tournament."
"I suppose that's true," Kirito agreed, seeing that Sinon was fine with the result.
"Hey, Sinon, if you're planning on training for the dueling tournament, I could spar with you as well," offered Leafa who became energized with a desire to duel after watching the intense battle.
Leafa, who was also a strong swordsman would offer a great deal of experience to Sinon, still new to dueling against strong opponents.
"I'd appreciate it, but I think I need a little breather after that first one," Sinon said, visibly fatigued as virtual sweat rolled down her face.
"How about we all take turns sparring while we help Sinon train?" suggested Kirito.
Similar to Leafa, his sister, he felt inspired to duel after watching Sinon and Asuna.
"Good idea! We'll start with you and me, buddy!" exclaimed Klein wanting to face Kirito, his number one rival.
"All right. Brace yourself, Klein. I've been wanting to test out a new Original Sword Skill," smirked Kirito as everyone gave Klein and him space to duel.
"Bring it on!" yelled Klein, challenging the Spriggan.
The gang continued to hold duels between themselves for around half an hour, enjoying the time they spent exchanging blows and seeing the new Sword Skills they've learned and developed. Sinon's match with Leafa in particular could've gone either way, but in the end Leafa was able to end the duel with her Original Sword Skill, «Striking Gale».
The last match of the day was Sinon versus Klein. Sinon was in the process of using her «Vertical Square» against the red-haired Salamander. The katana-wielder parried the first three strikes and Sinon leaned her body to direct the last strike towards Klein's legs. Klein stepped backward to avoid the blow and said,
"All right! Here's one of my more powerful attacks!"
His sword glowed red and became engulfed in flames as he activated the three-hit combo katana Sword Skill, «Scarlet Fan». The skill directed his body forward and he took a step towards Sinon in front of him. Klein would show the new sword-wielder the power of the highest level katana user from SAO. Perhaps then, the others would begin to think highly of—
"Uowah!" screamed out Klein who fell backward after slipping on the remnants of ice left from Sinon's previously used Sword Skill.
The Salamander lay flat on the ground as Sinon advanced and looked down at him with a faint smile that gave him chills, extinguishing the fire from his Sword Skill. The katana-user's plans to gain respect amongst the group were crushed cold.
"You planned this out as soon as you used «Vertical Square» didn't you?" questioned Klein.
"Yup," Sinon firmly replied as she stabbed Klein in the leg, giving her the win.
"Winner, Sinon!"
"Oh man!" Klein shouted into the sunset sky of Floor 22, becoming the laughingstock of the day.
The group reconvened into the Log House after the comedic result of the last match.
"Sinon, If you really want to make a splash during the dueling tournament you should probably make an Original Sword Skill. Asuna was able to counter you easily because she's seen «Vertical Square» countless times. You'll catch people by surprise with a skill of your own. I'm sure this guy over here could help you with that." Lisbeth advised as she nudged Kirito in the arm as he sat in his rocking chair.
"Yeah, I'd be more than willing to help you with that. Remember, it's very difficult to make a Sword Skill though. You'll have to be able to emulate the speed and power of a skill without the assistance of the system to record and register the skill," warned Kirito, aware of the struggles of making Original Sword Skills, spending whole gaming sessions during the process of creating his own.
"Thanks, I'm looking forward to it," replied Sinon with ears lifted, keen to make a Sword Skill of her own for her new sword.
"Huh, that's strange," Leafa interjected as she was looking at a message on her game window.
"What is it Leafa-san?" questioned Silica who sat beside her at the dining table.
"Recon says that there's a party of players who are PKing all the groups that are trying to challenge the Boss on the current floor." Leafa's friend, Recon, would contact her if he heard any interesting rumors that are floating ALO.
The floors of New Aincrad were being released five floors at a time. The players of ALO have currently cleared up to Floor 32 and were in the process of preparing to fight against the boss.
"It's probably a guild that wants to clear the boss first, but doesn't have all the necessary equipment and people in order to do so," Kirito mentioned, clearly used to the concept.
"Didn't that kind of thing happen on Floor 19 as well?" questioned Silica who remembered fighting the Salamanders while she along with Kirito's group went to challenge the Floor Boss.
"Yeah, the Salamander players were really confused as to why Klein was fighting against them," Asuna laughed, reliving the memory in her mind.
The top players among the Salamander players including General Eugene formed a raiding group to challenge Floor 19, but Kirito and his group planned to tackle the boss fight themselves, already aware of the basic mechanics of the fight due their previous experience in SAO. When Klein revealed himself amongst Kirito's party, the Salamander players were surprised because Klein often joined them for dungeons and territorial wars with the other races.
"Well, you were the ones that I was planning on clearing the floor with. I don't always have to keep to starter race pride," defended Klein stating his dedication to his friends.
"So other players actually stop the progression of the game so they can be recorded as the first to down a boss?" questioned Sinon who wasn't used to hard-core raiding in MMO's. She mainly quested and did PvP in GGO and had only done a few dungeons with Kirito and the others.
"Yeah, this is a common thing in MMO's with guilds and raid encounters. Having your guild name displayed for all to see as the first people to defeat a boss gives you a special feeling of pride. It's similar to seeing your name on the BoB rankings," Kirito explained.
"I see," Sinon nodded, understanding the pleasure one could gain from seeing amongst the leaderboards.
Sinon glanced at her lower left as she noticed the current time in the real world. She noticed that it was getting late and noted that she should rest soon because she had plans to wake up early the next morning.
"Oh, it seems that I'll need to log out soon. I'm planning on waking up early tomorrow."
"That's right, you're coming to our house to exercise with onii-chan and see our dojo," remembered Leafa, lifting up her index finger. Kirito and Sinon have been exercising together from the start of the week as part of a job given to them by Kikouka which involved real body simulation in VR.
"You two are still exercising together? How long are you guys going to do this as part of your job for that Chrysheight fellow?" asked Lisbeth who never had a good impression of Kikuoka's ALO avatar. Like Asuna, she was suspicious of his character ever since the Death Gun incident which endangered Kirito's life.
"It's a process that'll take a few months, but Sinon and I intend to keep exercising afterward. It's become a habit now and I can honestly say I feel a lot better than I did when we first woke up from SAO," Kirito revealed to the group.
He had only started their exercise plan, but Kirito was happy that he decided to take up the job with Sinon. He felt better about his body and he enjoyed Sinon's company. She shared a similar interest in action movies and they often talked about VR and where it could be headed. Kirito was glad to have a friend who was also very interested in VR development.
Lisbeth looked suspiciously at Kirito while Sinon got the clue that she was probably going to tease him about their relationship. Wanting to avoid such a situation, Sinon promptly said her good-byes.
"Well, I'll see you guys tomorrow," she directed to Kirito and Leafa.
"Bye, everyone. Good night."
"Night!" the group replied in unison.
Sinon pressed the "log out" button on her window, causing her avatar to fade from the Log House.
"As I was saying, Kirito. You and Sinon have been spending a lot of time together," Lisbeth said as she poked Kirito in the chest.
"Well, isn't that natural, seeing as we're both being employed by Chrysheight?" Kirito stood up from his chair and replied to Lisbeth without losing composure.
"But you're planning on spending more time with her even after you're done with your jobs," Lisbeth reiterated. Kirito looked away for a second and walked over to where Asuna was sitting with Yui and laid his hand on Asuna's shoulder.
"Like I said, exercising has become a habit. You could join us if you want. Asuna has once." Kirito countered, intending not to fall prey to another one of Lisbeth's traps.
"Yeah, it was fun running with Kirito-kun and Sinonon," Asuna stated.
Asuna joined them partly because she wanted to see what Kirito and Sinon did together when they exercised and she felt bad for doubting Kirito afterwards. However, she did enjoy the time she got to spend with them. She didn't get many chances to spent time with Kirito in real life because she lived far away from him.
"Eh, I'm not really the exercising type," admitted Lisbeth.
"Oh, that's no good Liz. You won't be able to keep a good figure if you don't exercise. Even I try to keep fit on occasion," lectured Silica innocently.
"What's that?" Lisbeth turned her attention to Silica and grabbed her chest from behind with both her hands. Silica panicked and screamed in response.
"I don't want to hear that from someone that needs to add some weight in certain places," Lisbeth added, punishing Silica by rubbing Silica's chest.
"All right! I'm sorry, Liz! Please let go!" Silica squealed in frustration, the scene looking like an owner disciplining one's cat.
Not worried over a common occurrence, Kirito patted Yui on the head and kissed Asuna on the forehead.
"I'll be getting off as well. I need to make sure the dojo is clean. Good night, Yui. Good night, Asuna."
Asuna leaned forward and kissed Kirito on the cheek, returning her love.
"Good night, Kirito-kun."
"Good night, Papa!" said Yui, who hugged Kirito's neck before going back to Asuna's shoulder.
"I'll see everyone tomorrow!" Kirito said in farewell, logging out.
"Night!" responded the rest of the group.
"How come Kirito always gets all the attention?" complained Klein. "I'm here too." Klein, who worked long hours in the real world could never catch a break when trying to impress the girls in the group.
"Well, you see, Kirito didn't lose any of his duels today. Also, who was it that tripped and fell in the middle of one?" Lisbeth joked, the scene still fresh in everyone's minds.
"Okay, I get it," Klein admitted defeat, lowering his head.
"But Sinon really takes after Kirito's resourcefulness. They really are more similar than they seem," noted Klein as he thought about his duel with Sinon.
"So you can notice things like that too?" responded Lisbeth, impressed by the Salamander's observation.
"Of course I can! I'm not completely hopeless you know?"
"Sinon-san and Kirito-kun really do seem close," added Silica, also wary of the close bond Sinon and Kirito seemed to share.
"Doesn't that worry you a little bit, Asuna?" questioned Lisbeth who noticed that Sinon and Kirito shared something that no one else had. However, she didn't know exactly what that was.
"There's no way that Papa would betray Mama!" Yui exclaimed, pointing her finger at Lisbeth, defending her parent.
"Of course onii-chan wouldn't, Yui-chan," Leafa confirmed as she rubbed Yui's cheek. Leafa experienced Kirito's love and dedication for Asuna firsthand when Asuna wouldn't awaken even after SAO ended. There was no way the same Kirito would betray that love.
"Kirito-kun is too good of a person for me to imagine him hurting Asuna," Silica agreed.
What Asuna didn't know is that Lisbeth and Silica, shortly after Asuna awakened after the events of her imprisonment in ALO, made a pact to not make a move on Kirito for a month in support of them. However, during the course of that month, both of them saw how close Kirito and Asuna were and knew that they couldn't come between them despite the feelings they had towards Kirito.
Everyone knew and accepted that the love between Asuna and Kirito was a bond that could not be broken.
"There's nothing to worry about. Kirito-kun and I couldn't be any happier together. Also, Sinonon wouldn't do anything to hurt me," affirmed Asuna who believed and trusted Kirito and Sinon with all her heart.
Ending Note
Hopefully, you guys enjoyed that chapter. This time the story was more dialogue intensive. I hope I was able to capture the essence of all the characters and give them all a fair amount of screen time. It's truly a struggle to manage this many characters in the scenes as they all converse among themselves.
The next chapter will take place in the real world so there won't be as much action as there has been in the previous two chapters. However, as I have stated in the summary, there will be plenty of action when Kirito and his group challenge the dungeon for the legendary bow. Not to mention what will happen with the group of Pkers that I have hinted in this chapter.
My goal is to release a new chapter every week, but I don't want to make any guarantees because things may pop up in life and delay the releases. At most, a chapter will take two weeks. I do plan on completing this story. I've planned out the outline and sequence of events of the story, so understand that I'm not simply writing as I go.
Once again, please leave any feedback or suggestions you may have in a review and I'll take them into consideration as I write the rest of my story. Look forward to the next chapter!